Sofirn C8A is the one for bright light.

I own a few nice C8’s made by Lumintop and Nitecore. I thought these C8’s were nice and bright. Then I received a C8A from Sofirn to do a review. The Sofirn C8A turns out to be the brightest single emitter flashlight I own now. One of the things I like about it is that has a good amount of side spill. Without this feature it would be rather useless to use on a walk. I was a bit skeptical when I read that high output for the Sofirn C8A was rated at 1800 lumens. It is that bright. I downloaded a few apps to read Lux. All the apps read the same amount of light. It is all relative. I used freshly charged Samsung 30Q batteries for the non Sofirn flashlights and the supplied Sofirn battery for the C8A. The flashlights were all placed on a dining room table in the same spot next to my cell phone. All the flashlights were about six feet from the ceiling. I took the reading within the first 30 seconds of run time. I tested ceiling bounce lumens. The C8A was 113 lux brighter in ceiling bounce compared to my Nitecore P30. Wow that is a lot. If you need or want a super bright flashlight but do not want to mod or build your own flashlight then the Sofirn C8A is for you. It is wicked bright. I charged the supplied Sofirn battery three times with the Sofirn charger before doing the low mode run time test. I used the flashlight in between charges. First charge time: 3 hours and 26 minutes. The manual stated that low mode will last 10 hours 30 minutes. Well my flashlight and battery did much better than that. Low mode lasted for 15 hours and 33 minutes. That is very impressive. I stopped the test when the flashlight started blinking the low voltage warning of 2.80vdc. I believe but have no conclusive proof that the supplied Sofirn battery is actually a Samsung 30Q battery. I would get identical lux readings when comparing both batteries in the flashlight. I am not taking the battery apart to find out for certain about its manufacture. I am scared of lithium ion batteries. Now let’s talk changing the modegroup. It took me more than a few tries to master 3 fast clicks to change from group 1 to group 2 and back. I was either too fast or slow. Once mastered it is very easy to change mode groups. The moonlight mode is just great for getting around the house at night without disturbing your significant other. The tint of my flashlight is neutral with just a tad to the cool side. I recommend this flashlight to anyone wanting to buy a bright and durable C8 style flashlight.

I have a C8T and all the time I was thinking that the Astrolux C8 is the best thrower among stock C8’s but the C8T was throwing a bit better no matter how we changed batts on the Astrolux

And yet the Astrolux C8 product page specs says “640m” throw distance, whereas the Sofirn C8T originally only listed 250m (in the manual) and was later changed to 500m (on the website). Probably Sofirn hasn’t made any actual tests (even the CD candela values for the Sofirn C8A/C8T on their official website seem quite low).

I’m considering buying a xp-l2 C8a. I’m deciding if I should choose a Sony VTC6, Orbtronic 30-40A 3120mah cell, any suggestions?

I prefer the VTC6 or LG HG2. Think I have a 30Q in my C8A at the moment and it purrs along just fine with that as well. I prefer non protected cells though. If I remember correctly the Orbtronic is protected.

Yes the kit already has a battery. Thanks for reminding me! :money_mouth_face:

Thanks for doing this review. I really like the dryer shot.

I converted a Convoy C8 into essentially a C8A. Changed the emitter to XP L2 and added the C8A driver. Also changed the reflector to OP. I think I like it over the C8T . The A throws a little less but lights up more territory. The C8F is coming soon and it might just be my favorite. ( until the Q8 arrives :smiley: )